The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1887-12-01
Of Astronomy at Hamilton Col.
..f 80 lere. New York, H. ~

Va hbhAoA'P4IS hS lttulllkpu CDls
legc, New York.
The great ecAndsl In Franco, with It's
important conaequencrn, calls to mind the
TACT that Professor Peters, o! Hamilton
College. Clinton, New York, had conferred
upon him, a few months ago, the crosp Of
an officer OF the national order Of tho LIE.
gion OF Honor. Thia 10 tho graceful rccog-
u!tion OF his achievements es Oh setrono-
n.er, conferred upon him by President
Greyy, at the suggestion OF NJ. Flourops,
Minister Of Forsien Affairs in thu cabinet
OF NJ. Rouvler. a glance o. Profeasor Pc.
ters's "yecord" shows how worthy he is OF
the dia,inction which our noble friend,
the French Executive, has awarded him.
Christian Henry Frederick Petere, Pm.
d., was bonn in Germany Oh September
10. 1918, and way graduated at tbs Uni.
versity OF Berlin. BE came to this couu.
Try and wSs msde an American citizsu.
Previous to 1858 no wss employed in the
United States Coast Survey, and In that
year no was elected Profaaaor OF Astronomy
Ut hamilton College. Ia 1857 Edwin q.
Litchfeld, OF Brooklyn. endowed the
chaiy and observatory withthEIty thousand
dollars, md tho latter has aiaco bssn
known a. Li,chGsld Observatory. Dr..
Peters was at tbs head cf tho expedition
which, IN 1869. observed thu eclipse of the
sun from tho station 6. Des Moinea, Iowa,
In 1874 he was tho chief OF g government
expedition 10 obHerys the trsneit Of Venus,
snd 1a5 atationed In New ZEALAND. The
preparations were elaborate. and tho OBJ.
servStions at no other point were 80 con.
plete or satisfactory. His parry took 237
photographs Of the several phases Of tho
transit which sro Of great ecientiic value.
DR.. Petels has discovered mora ASTEROIDS
than Gny other astronomer, having forty
four new etars to his credit. He has cats.
logued Ssventy.ive Thousand zodiacal stars
and recorded twelve thou0aad solar spots.
This eludits astronomer has been often
employed by the r gent5 OF the Uni
versity Of Nov York to determine the
Longitude and latitude Of places in the
State, and haH written numerous learned
articles On his pcisn.iiic specially. 10 is,
moreover, u notable general scholar, few
men being h;s equal in Lstin, Greek, and
modern Languages, wbilo in mathematics,
for which he hae daily use, be has no
superior. His great work Is the prepare.
ton Of astronomical cbaTtg, to which he
hes devoted year5 and which, when com.
pleted, will be tho most accurate and COM
plate ever made. Last apring DR.. pate,e
was in Paris NJ the invitation OF tho AS
Economical Congress assembled in that
city, being n Of four Americana honor.
ed with an invitntion. When the seesiona
Of the Congress were over no remained
| several weeks iu the French metropolis
studying ancient books and manuscripts,
searching for data which might be useful
to him in the preparation OF the astrono-
nlcal charts 10 which the besE psrt OF his
life has been devoted. The favorable i'm
preston made by him on French ecieutifc
men wes the immediate Cause OF the high
honor bestowed on him by the great Euro
peen republic.
Ths learned DR.. Peters ia az eccentric es
the mos! c%arica!u!ed Of college professors
Ia represented to be. His manne!s and
his gait arc odd and awkward, end tho ei-
feet Of his peculiaritiea Ia emphasized by
great 8 sightednens and On imperfect
pronunciation Of the English language.
de is reputed to BIO but o poor teacher Of
prankish and unwilling atuGents who plsy
practical jokes on this kindly, absent
minded man Of study. But the "boys"
love him well, and SIRE proud Of his
achievements and distinction. The denr
old Professor is q wonderful tslker when
he has spprecistive Iistsneys. His love CT
flowers and landscape neutrality-suspicious.
the quiet pieaeute In which the limited
recreation he sllows himself 10 spent. OF
course "the Doctor "rwinkle," rs the
students call him, Ia q great lover OF the
soothing weed. His extraordinary mod.
eaty cannot hide the dignity md immortal
reputation conferred upon American
learning by the pnvearied pursuits Of
Professor Petelu.